The Florentine Florin is considered to be the US Dollar of the Renaissance. A coin of a mere 3.54 grams of fine gold, it showed just the name "Florentia" and the fleur-de-lis, emblem of the city, on one side and St John the Baptist, the Patron saint of Florence, on the other side. A king's face was never shown on the Florin, and this gives us a hint on the reason why Florence has been such a unique city in the Renaissance.

The first Florin was struck starting form 1252 and it has been the reference in trade transactions in Europe for centuries. The exact weight of the Florin was carefully checked during trade activities, as the 24-karat gold was the real value of the coin, of course. In order to avoid that someone might decide to collect some gold dust from the edges, it was decided to use an indentation.

Read more

Source: http://www.italialiving.com/